Join Will Cooling for live coverage of the top two matches of HBO Boxing’s blockbuster “Ring Kings” pay per view with Canelo Alvarez defending his light middleweight title against veteran Shane Mosley before P4P great Floyd Mayweather once again moves up to 154Ibs, this time to face popular Puerto Rican fighter Miguel Cotto.

Canelo Alvarez vs Shane Mosley

Round One

People can criticize boxing for failing to create new stars all they want but the way Golden Boy has brought Alvarez a long has been inspired with this being the Mexican light middleweight’s second appearance in the featured match spot on a Mayweather Mexican Holiday supershow. And in Mosley he’s clearly being fed an opponent more name than fighter in 2012 with ‘Sugar’ having looked decidedly ropey in his past three fights.This should be his coming out party.

Mosley pushes the action at the start of the round, pumping the jab out as Alvarez falls back with his hands up high. Alvarez purely on defense for the first minute as he feels out the veteran. Alvarez is not working enough which is surprising as when he lets his hands fly he easily connects due to Mosley’s slow reactions. Makes it a difficult round to score as Mosley fought more but Alvarez fought better in spurts. I’d just give it to Mosley. 10-9.

Round Two

The first half of the round is much like the first with Alvarez feeling Mosley out while staying on the defense with his hands up high. However midway through he connects with a couple of uppercuts that signal him stepping his offense up a gear. Alvarez lends several hard punches to the head of Mosley that clearly give the veteran a big jolt. Mosley’s slow handspeed means that he just cannot defend against the Alvarez power punches. Alvarez’s round. 19-19

Round Three

Really good round for Alvarez marred only by the champion suffering a cut above the right eye by a clash of heads. Alvarez picked up where he left off in the previous round, with the younger fighter mixing hooks and uppercuts well to constantly keep his veteran opponent off balance and uncomfortable. While he never he got the opportunity to open up and put Mosley under sustained pressure as towards the end of the second, he was always first to the punch and did the most damage. 29-28.

Round Four

Mosley standing his ground better in the fourth round, trying to pump the jab and land the odd right hand. Mosley targeting the cut above the eyebrow. However Alvarez again showing the better hands, tagging Mosley on multiple occasions with punches such as the left hook, right hand and uppercut. He hasn’t however had Mosley reeling like he seemed to towards the end of the second. 39-37

Round Five

Another round for Alvarez who looked really good as he worked the body of Mosley with hook shots and connected with several right hands. He also with the best punch of the round snapped Mosley’s head back with a strong jab. Mosley hanging in there and is certainly putting in a more active, entertaining performance than he has since the Margarito fight. But he just looks too old against the speed of Canelo. 49-46

Round Six

Strong round from Alvarez as Mosley is guilty of fighting directly in front of him and so leaving himself directly in the line of fire. Alvarez puts together offense much as the previous rounds but he was able to do more of it, particularly putting together combinations to the head on the inside. Mosley still doing well even if his lack of speed is sadly apparent. This is proving a far more entertaining and dare I say it competitive fight than expected. 59-55

Round Seven

This felt like the key round as Alvarez put Mosley under sustained pressure and seemed to have the older fighter hurt as Mosley became less sure on his legs and having a beaten look on his face. But under sustained pressure Mosley refused to fold, looking to grab old of the champion and deny Canelo the space he needs to continue the onslaught of power punches. This is a really fun fight with both men playing their roles perfectly – Alvarez the young prospect and Mosley the gritty veteran who won’t quit. 69 – 64

Round Eight

The highlight of the round visually was Mosley backing up Alvarez on the ropes and just unloading on rapid fire punches. Unfortunately almost all the punches landed on the gloves on the champion. While Mosley looked better through the round I still cannot deny Alvarez the points as he landed the better, harded punches throughout. 79-73

Round Nine

My god what is in Mosley’s chin? Alvarez connects with a nasty body shot after stunning the veteran with a strong jab, and then poured forward in the final minute of the round with numerous power punches as he tries to blast Mosley out of the fight. But as beaten and batter as ‘sugar’ is, he just won’t go down. Great fight! 89-82

Round Ten

Another round for Alvarez as he continues to impose himself on a Mosley who just will not accept defeat. Absolutely incredible performance from the veteran who’s been very gutsy to stand up to this punishment from the young heavy handed phenom. 99-91

Round Eleven

The pace of this fight is incredible considering Alvarez having been criticized in the past for wanting to only want to fight in spurts while Mosley looked to have no stamina left in his fights aganist Mayweather, Mora and Pacquiao. These two have just gone at it for ten of the eleven rounds, setting a brisk pace for men of their size and just throwing leather. The way Alvarez has been able to consistently connect with power punches and Mosley stand up to such punishment is impressive. This round is more of the same and its 109-100 going into the last round.

Round Twelve

The crowd comes unglue as the fight ends with a round where both fighters gave everything after a furious thirty-six minutes, with Mosley still desperately fighting against the Canelo onslaught of big power shots. Mosley just overwhelmed by the superior speed and power of his opponent while Alvarez looked very impressive as he stood up to Mosley’s power, fought at a fast pace for the full fight and just connected with a scary number of nasty power punches. Great, great fight. I have it 119-109 to Alvarez but tremendous credit to Mosley.

The three judges have it 119-109, 118-110, 119-109 to the winner and still WBC light middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto

Round One

Interesting to not that Mayweather’s posse includes 50 Cent, Justin Bieber and HHH. Cotto putting Mayweather from the start. Mayweather quickly establishes his defensive rhythm and is flicking out the jab from his trademark shoulder roll. Mayweather popping out the jab and moving around the ring well. They clinch up a couple of times and Mayweather’s the one to land on the separation. Mayweather looking very comfortable early on, picking his punches and dictating the fight. 10-9

Round Two

Mayweather lands a couple of right hands to the body at the start. Cotto lunges forward, Mayweather clinches up and Cotto picks him up off his feet. Mayweather able to dart in with punches at will. Cotto is looking noticeably slower than Mayweather. Mayweather trapped on the ropes and is forced to exchange punches with his opponent. Quickly gets off the ropes and resumes making Cotto miss by ducking and diving. I think we’ve seen this fight many times before. 20-18

Round Three

This is all Mayweather at the moment with his speed advantage and defensive skills just denying Cotto any opportunity to mount any offense let alone make the fight competitive. There was a surreal example of Mayweather’s defensive skills when Cotto had Money trapped on the ropes and he Mayweather was still able to evade almost every single punch. Mayweather looks fast and composed, with his unorthodox right hand leads providing as effective as usual. 30-27

Round Four

This is as big as mismatch as critics of the match feared when it was made with Mayweather just having the eerie ability to make Cotto miss. Cotto is throwing the big punches but Mayweather is just a genius at keeping himself out of harm’s way. Mayweather also landed the best offensive punches, including a right hand and a uppercut that similarly hurt Cotto. 40-36

Round Five

Mayweather is taunting Cotto, repeatedly refuses to avoid being trapped on the ropes so he can demonstrate how easily he fight off the ropes without being caught with a punch. Worse he’s starting to win the inside exchanges thanks to his pinpoint accuracy. Cotto does land a punch up against the ropes towards the end but Mayweather’s rarely tested chin is equal to it. This is pure domination. 50-45

Round Six

Better for Cotto at the beginning as he connects with a punch at the start of the round, that ultimately bloodies Mayweather’s nose. Mayweather however is still moving around the ring well and can land punches on Cotto almost at will. 60-54

Round Seven

Mayweather works the jab at the beginning of the round, seemingly happy to work from behind his 5inch reach advantage after toying with his opponent on the inside in previous rounds. This must be so frustrating for Cotto who is doing nothing wrong but just cannot get close enough or move fast enough to land on Mayweather. With seven rounds down it looks like Cotto has nothing to offer against Mayweather. 70-63

Round Eight

Mayweather seems determined to connect with meaningful punches on the inside, allowing Cotto to trap him on the ropes for over two minutes and unload numerous punches but the champion barely landed anything. Indeed Mayweather’s counterpunches were probably cleaner. However such was the territorial advantage he ceded to Cotto that it probably was the Puerto Rican’s. 79-73

Round Nine

These games on the inside really aren’t doing Mayweather any favours, he’d be much advised to go back to what he did in the seventh where he fought behind the jab. Cotto is getting busier and bolder with the encouragement of his inside exchanges with Mayweather and the rounds are scrappy enough that they could be given to either fighter depending on whether Cotto’s low connection percentage is being noticed by the judges. I think Mayweather did enough this round to take the round but he’s making it closer than it needs to be. 89-82

Round Ten

Another round for Floyd Mayweather although he’s not moving around the ring as freely as you’d expect. Its good to see him be willing to fight up close but its not a strategy that plays to his strength. The fact that he’s doing so well with such bad game-planning is testament to his innate skills. 99-91

Round Eleven

The action has slowed with Cotto in particularly seeming to tire. Mayweather continues to let the fight drift around the ring rather than impose himself on the vital question of where the fight takes place, so creating a misleading impression that Cotto’s offense is more effective than it really is. He does however fight from distance towards the end of the round to put the stamp of authority on his performance necessary to ensure he takes the honors. 109-100

Round Twelve

Miguel Cotto needs a knockout on my scorecards to win this, although I am aware that mine are more lopsided to Mayweather than others. Cotto pushing the action as he seeks a strong performance to end the fight but its Mayweather that takes the final round and comes closest to getting the finish when he hurts Cotto with a couple of uppercuts midways through the round. Cotto manages to survive and see out the final bell. I have it 119-110 to Mayweather just because for so many of the rounds where Cotto was on the offense he just wasn’t landing anywhere near to enough.

The three judges agree with the scores being 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 for the new WBA and WBC Diamond Light Middleweight Champion Floyd Mayweather.

Will Cooling

A Comics Nexus original, Will Cooling has written about comics since 2004 despite the best efforts of the industry to kill his love of the medium. He now spends much of his time over at Inside Fights where he gets to see muscle-bound men beat each up without retcons and summer crossovers.